My Husband Secretly Played Daddy to His Mistress's Kid?Time to Destroy Them For My Daughter! - Chapter 83: Chapter 83

The second ambulance finally showed up.
Marina was sprawled on the stretcher, barely hanging on, with nothing but this high-pitched ringing in her ears and the paramedics talking fast around her.
"Gosh!Infections are bad, puncture wounds straight through the kneecaps—we gotta clean these out right now!"
The moment that alcohol swab touched her wounds, it felt like someone was holding a blowtorch to her skin. Marina's whole body jerked up and this raw scream ripped out of her throat.
"Stay still!" The nurse held down her shaking body. "If we don't clean this shit out now, you're gonna lose the leg!"
Marina clamped down on her lip so hard she tasted copper, but she didn't let up.
The ambulance screamed through traffic toward the hospital.
"Miss,another hour and we would've been amputating." The doctor adjusted his glasses, looking serious as hell. "You're looking at bed rest for at least a month, then PT after that."
Marina gave a weak nod, pale as death.
As they wheeled her into the VIP wing, she caught familiar voices drifting from down the hall.
"Shh, baby, mama's right here..." That was Gina.
Marina tilted her head and through a cracked door, she saw Gideon wrapped around Gina, murmuring soft words. Gina was melting into him, her shoulders trembling like she'd been through absolute hell.
And in the crib, that supposedly "burning up with fever" kid was giggling and playing with toys, cheeks rosy and healthy as fuck.
Marina looked away as they pushed her into her empty room.
Big shock—Gideon didn't show up once while she was there.
Not until she was getting discharged, sitting in her wheelchair, when she bumped into them at the elevators.
Gideon was pushing a fancy stroller while Gina clung to his arm, the three of them looking like some Instagram-perfect family. When Gideon spotted Marina, he clearly did a double-take, like he'd completely forgotten she existed.
"...We'll head back together." He finally said, his voice all awkward and guilty.
The whole drive back, Gina wouldn't stop gushing about baby this and baby that, Gideon threw in the occasional "mm-hmm," and Marina just sat there in silence.
Back at the house, they'd scrubbed the basement clean, but the air still had this metallic tang mixed with bleach that made her want to puke.
Marina stared at the pristine floor, and for a split second she could see the blood trail she'd left crawling across it that night.
"Marina." Gideon suddenly spoke up, his voice all tight. "Since you're stuck in that chair, maybe you should take the downstairs room?"
Marina slowly looked up, her eyes empty. "Sure."
Gideon totally missed her tone. He looked relieved and immediately started barking orders at the maids to fix up the guest room.
"I had some new stuff delivered for you—clothes, bags, whatever." He added, trying to sound all generous.
Marina didn't say a word. She just spun her wheelchair around and rolled away.
The delivery was all high-end designer shit and limited edition handbags—basically everything Marina used to go crazy for.
Gina's eyes went wide and she immediately latched onto Gideon's arm. "Oh my God, Gideon, are these for me? They're gorgeous!"
Gideon glanced at Marina, hesitated for a beat. "...Yeah, sure, if you want them."
Marina's knuckles went white gripping the wheelchair armrests, but her face stayed blank. She just turned around and wheeled out of there.
Her phone buzzed with a text from Gideon.
*You can't really wear this stuff right now anyway, so I gave it to Gina. I'll get you something else later.*
Marina stared at the screen like she was reading a grocery list.
She sat there for a moment, then powered off her phone and chucked it aside.
At dinner, Gina made this big show of wearing the new Chanel suit and did a little twirl right in front of Marina. "Gideon, how do I look?"
Gideon nodded. "Great on you."
Marina kept her head down, mechanically shoving food around her plate. The constant throbbing in her knees killed any appetite she might've had.
Suddenly, this sharp burning sensation shot through her throat and she couldn't breathe. She grabbed her neck, her face turning red, veins bulging on her forehead.
"What the hell?" Gideon looked alarmed.
Marina's mouth moved but no sound came out. She could only point at her throat, then at the mushrooms scattered through her pasta.
She had a severe mushroom allergy.
The maids scrambled to find her pills. After she jabbed it into her thigh, the choking feeling backed off a little, but her throat was still swollen like hell.
"What the fuck is going on?" Gideon's face was thunderous. "We don't cook with mushrooms in my villa!"
The chef stepped forward all nervous and twitchy. "It... Miss Everlyn asked me to add them... she said she wanted to try something new..."
"That's complete bullshit!" The housekeeper jumped in. "Miss Everlyn's deathly allergic to mushrooms—she'd never ask for that!"
The chef suddenly dropped to his knees, tears streaming. "Mr. Alden,I'm telling the truth! Miss Everlyn told me... told me she wanted to set up Miss Vale, said to put mushrooms in the food and then blame Miss Vell..."
Marina shook her head frantically, barely managing to croak out"I... never..."
Gina's eyes filled with tears, putting on this wounded martyr act. "Gideon, just let it go... Marina's probably just really stressed out..."